Haiti’s outlook on gang violence could change in the coming months, the United Nations’ top human-rights expert on the country said Monday, citing a U.S.-initiated international force that is beginning to deploy and a prime minister committed to providing alternatives for young people drawn into armed groups. William O’Neill, who visited Haiti this month, said “the next few months are going to be crucial” and argued the gangs are not as powerful as they may appear.
O’Neill spoke to U.N. reporters as the Security Council’s decision moves into implementation. He said the plan approved Sept. 30 authorizes a much larger force—5,550 members—co-sponsored by the United States and Panama, designed to transform a Kenya-led multinational force that arrived in Haiti in June 2024 and grew to about 1,100 troops.
He said the new force is aimed at turning the current multinational deployment into a “gang suppression force” with powers that the existing force does not have, including authority to arrest suspected gang members. O’Neill added that the support office and other elements of that gang suppression force are already in Haiti, and he said the first troop arrivals are slated for early April. He said more contingents would arrive in the following months and that the entire force is expected to be on the ground by September, with some contingents in the Kenya-led forces expected to remain, including from El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica.
O’Neill tied his optimism to the scale of the violence and what he described as a window of opportunity for international pressure and domestic action. He said gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, and he said they now control 90% of Port-au-Prince. He added that their activities have expanded into the countryside and include looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape, while noting that Haiti has not had a president since Moïse’s killing.
He said Haitian police and the U.N.-backed multinational force have struggled to quell the violence, and he urged the Security Council to impose sanctions on more gang leaders as well as on corrupt politicians and oligarchs he said are tied to the gangs. O’Neill also argued that limiting weapons supply is critical, telling reporters that the flow of guns and other weapons primarily from the United States must be stopped because, as he put it, “the gangs literally run out of bullets, and they lose their strength.”
O’Neill said he has been frustrated that nearly five years after Moïse’s assassination, gang leaders have continued to grow more powerful. He described seeing gang leaders on social media, “showing off their jewelry and fancy athletic wear and bragging about what they do,” and he said “kids see this and they say, ‘That’s how I become rich, that’s how I become a big shot.’” He cited that visibility as part of how young people are drawn to gangs, even as armed groups continue to commit abuses.
He also cited a specific example from recent weeks, saying a video showed a gang leader with a baseball bat beating 10 or 15 young boys lying on the floor because they were suspected of trying to get out of the gang area. O’Neill said removing several gang leaders could have a major impact on tackling the violence by sending a message to others seeking money and power.
Despite his frustration, O’Neill said he now has “more than hope” because of the arrival of the gang suppression force and because a prime minister and cabinet have committed to delivering results for the people, especially opportunities for young people and gang members. He said Haiti is “facing a difficult yet promising moment” and added that if insecurity can be addressed, corruption and impunity fought, and human rights protected, “then everyone will prosper,” while he said, “We just can’t let them down.”